Why do we drink water after coughing if our windpipe controls our respiratory system and the water goes down our esophagus?
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coughing is normally a natural attempt to remove irritants from the respiratory system, this can include the top of the windpipe used for both breathing and food intake, additional coughing make make the throat sore. Drinking water may reduce the coughing response by soothing the throat and putting a temporary halt to the cough response.
It means your throat is dry and you need to hydrate it so you’re throat wont be irritated. That’s why its recommended that you need to drink a lot of water everyday.
A speech therapist recently commented in passing that it really doesn’t do much to dislodge anything irritating and causing the cough, for the reason you mentioned. Maybe it stops you coughing for a few seconds while you swallow?
Coming here to ask another question: if you get water down your windpipe, does it all eventually get coughed up? Can the liquid be processed by your lungs at all, or would it just turn into pneumonia?
The epiglottis which is like a huge flap controls which solids or liquids go into our airway or down our esophagus to our stomach. It flaps back and forth depending on if we’re eating/drinking or breathing. When we have something “go down the wrong tube” and cause that coughing fit, it’s usually doesn’t fully go down the lungs which makes coughing it up effective enough. The improvement in our coughing after drinking liquid is soothing, however usually ineffective in actually removing that residual liquid and it’s likely it goes down into the lungs if not coughed up. Fortunately, if you are an averagely healthy individual, this won’t harm you at all. Especially if it’s water. But, if you are an 80 year old, immunocompromised person, do not drink water after coughing.
When we cough, our body is trying to get rid of something that doesn’t belong in our lungs, like dust or germs. Coughing is a way for our body to keep our lungs healthy and clean.
But when we cough, our throat can get a little sore and scratchy. Drinking water can help to soothe our throat and make it feel better. The water doesn’t actually go into our lungs, it goes into our stomach through a different tube called the esophagus. The esophagus is next to the windpipe, but they are separate and the water doesn’t mix with the air in our lungs.
So even though it might seem a little strange to drink water after coughing, it can actually help to make our throat feel better.
The human larynx is coated with super sensitive neurons with a direct line to the brain. They are ever vigilant for anything (that’s not air) that might get past and put you in danger of aspirating water or food into your lungs, which the lungs are not designed to process, and that could possibly cause infection (aspiration pneumonia). Drinking is a fairly complex sensimotor activity that requires a lot of coordination of a bunch of muscle systems. When things momentarily fall out of coordination, you aspirate water, and those neurons kick in to signal the brain to generate an immediate, protective action (coughing). So drinking water after you’ve had water “go down the wrong pipe” likely signals to the muscles involved in the pharyngeal phase of swallowing that the elastic cartilage that seals off your airway is closed and everything is back in coordination again.
Depends on the type of cough. “Lung” coughs (deep down) won’t give the perception of needing a drink, but they can cause it. Once the deep lung coughs reach the end of the esophagus, they can “tickle” your throat, causing irritation. This is what makes someone want to drink to get rid of it. There could be a dry spot from coughing and air blowing through that “sticks”, and having liquid coarse over the area soothes it.
Other coughs are from phlegm being pulled out of the wind pipe and sitting in the back of your throat. Those coughs clear the mucus, but can leave a dry spot as well. Liquid will help clear the mucus and also cost the dry area, alleviating discomfort.
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